The Tuesday decision could still be reviewed by the California Supreme Court, which would then have the chance of overturning it, affirming it or ignoring it.

Still, the pro-med contingent was elated. In a statement sent out over the holiday, Americans for Safe Access chief counsel Joe Elford said:

Blind Nomad / Flickr

The court of appeal could not have been clearer in expressing that medical marijuana dispensaries are legal under state law, and that municipalities have no right to ban them. This landmark decision should have a considerable impact on how the California Supreme Court rules in the various dispensary cases it's currently reviewing.

More specifically, the court said that, because the state health and safety code on the matter uses the world "dispensary" and references the concept of a "storefront or mobile retail outlet," pot shops as they exist in California are generally legal.

That would contradict L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley and LAPD officials, who have argued that California's medical marijuana law never explicitly allowed the kind of retail pot environment we see in Los Angeles.

They say that state law only allows the nonprofit sharing of pot among the seriously ill.

... The repeated use of the term 'dispensary' throughout [Health and Safety Code section 11362.768] and the reference in subdivision (e) to a 'storefront or mobile retail outlet' make it abundantly clear that the medical marijuana collectives authorized by section 11362.775 are permitted by state law to perform a dispensary function.

ASA's Elford called out L.A. City Attorney Trutanich directly, saying:

The AMCC decision puts a giant wrench into the plans of City Attorney Trutanich to persuade the City Council to enact a ban. The proposal introduced by Council member Huizar to ban dispensaries, which appeared to be favored by many of his colleagues, now faces an uncertain fate. Patient advocates have been pushing for a more sensible alternative ...